Actually, I've never tried it! But I have tried a few similar scents in the past .... Agua Lavenda Puig - which, I've heard is kinda similar to the Atkinsons. ACTUALLY -- what's really sparked my recent interest in Lavender, is the Nancy Boy products. I bought some of their shave cream and after shave gel and I LOVE the scent .... and if my nose is correct, I'm getting a decent dose of Lavender in there. So, I thought, why not try out some lavender in a cologne ... so I saw this thread and there was quite a bit of talk of the Atkinsons English Lavender .... that sounded like the one to go with!

Dave, Oh yeah, if you like the Puig, you should definately like the Atkinsons. It's similiar, but has more ummph. Most of the Nancy Boy products are scented with their proprietary blend of lavender, mint, and rosemary. I'm not a big fan of mint in gentlemen's toiletries, so that kind of throws it off, for me. But I know other gents who are simply nuts for that Nancy Boy scent blend. Let me know how you like the Atkinsons, after it arrives.
Regards,
Gordon

Last edited by bernards66 on Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

fisherc wrote:I purchased both the lavender water and the Royal Briar just for "kicks" sicne they were so inexpensive. I also asked the retailer for samples so I coudl try them. Neither excited me too much. Lavender is, well, just Lavender. It smells very much like straight up English Lavender EO. The Royal Briar is more interesting though very light. It's a citrus/spice combo that has a very "old school" feel. I won't keep either of them so I'd be happy to sell them to anyone interested. Contact me at fisher.c2comcast.net if interested.

Chris

Hey Chris, I know this is a very old post but I thought I'd ask anyway. Do you still have your bottle of Atkinson's Royal Briar available?

I have a funny feeling that the two are different strengths with the 4oz being stronger. I just got another bottle of this in the 4oz as it's easier for travel and when I smelled it I thought wow that is stronger. And I recalled the first bottle I had was a 4oz followed by the 8oz. When I got the 8oz I thought is was a tad weaker. I confirmed this by doing a blind test with my wife. I put both on paper strips and asked her if they were the same. She identified the 4oz as stronger. At the time I chalked it up to the kind of difference one finds from bottle to bottle of the hand made stuff (I assumed it was).

I repeated this experiment again at this go around with a 4oz and she again picked the 4oz as stronger. I know this is very little data but I wonder if the two are formulated by different entities or at different locations? It may actually explain why one guy posted on basenotes that he thought it was weakened for this lighter generation. He specifically cites that he's nursing a 20 yo 4oz bottle.

I know it's wierd to dwell on such minutiae but sometimes I just notice this stuff and wonder if anyone else does.

Chris, ( chuckle ) If we weren't into such minutiae, would we be here at all? I don't know, could be. If I remember correctly, that chap on basenotes had the 8oz. bottle of the newer stuff, did he not? The 4oz. bottle that I have is fairly potent, no question about it. That's why I posted the way I did in that prior thread. I thought that, "..man! if the older London stuff was noticeably stronger then what I have, it must have been at least as strong as Knize Ten EdT!...". I'm planning to be in Cambridge Chemists over the Holidays, and if I remember, I'll check out bottles of both, as they generally stock both sizes. I'm sure it's done by the same mysterious folks, but perhaps they 'water down' the bigger bottle a little, to make a few more pennies (?) I wonder if they still have the 12oz bottles? They used to.
Regards,
Gordon

First post for me on this board and its been an interesting read on all the vintage cologne/aftershaves mentioned here! Anyhow, does anyone know where one could, if still possible, purchase the American version of Atkinsons English Lavender? Theres plenty of English Lavender from Atkinsons on ebay but I suspect that they are the italian made ones but maybe the italian version will do fine if I cant find the American?

Welcome, although starting out by asking for a follow-up to a 12 year old thread is wonderfully optimistic!

Atkinson's of Vancouver continue to offer the things that pass for Plisson brushes these days, and some Edwin Jagger soaps and creams. No more Joris/Plisson soap. No English Lavender either. However, Taylor's Lavender is all that one might need in my view. Having said that, Taylor's No.74 Victorian Limes and their No.74 Original fragrances are far better than the Lavender water. The sandalwood aftershave is also worthwhile.

First post for me on this board and its been an interesting read on all the vintage cologne/aftershaves mentioned here! Anyhow, does anyone know where one could, if still possible, purchase the American version of Atkinsons English Lavender? Theres plenty of English Lavender from Atkinsons on ebay but I suspect that they are the italian made ones but maybe the italian version will do fine if I cant find the American?

The old stuff does turn up on eBay once in a while, I bought 4x4oz about a year ago. It seems to be exactly the same as the one that Cambridge Chemists used to sell about 10 years ago. Pinkish screwtop.

Thank you both for your answers! Haha, I didnt want to create a new thread the first thing I did so I searched for "lavender" and picked the first best one. I might check out the lavender water from Taylor, I do have both the green 74 cologne and their sandalwood AS and like them both.

First post for me on this board and its been an interesting read on all the vintage cologne/aftershaves mentioned here! Anyhow, does anyone know where one could, if still possible, purchase the American version of Atkinsons English Lavender? Theres plenty of English Lavender from Atkinsons on ebay but I suspect that they are the italian made ones but maybe the italian version will do fine if I cant find the American?

The old stuff does turn up on eBay once in a while, I bought 4x4oz about a year ago. It seems to be exactly the same as the one that Cambridge Chemists used to sell about 10 years ago. Pinkish screwtop.

Do the American version differ any other way from the Italian one, maybe another colour on the juice? Anyhow, theres a lot of vintage Yardley Lavender on Ebay as well so I might go for one of those instead (or/and maybe the italian Atkinson version)!

Adhoc, the only way to obtain the old U.S. version of Atkinson's English Lavender these days it to monitor ebay. I comes up every now and then and sometimes at exorbitant prices.

It's distinguishable from the Italian version by the bottle. The bottles of Atkinson's are more rectangular in nature and have a lavender/blue label with gold writing. Also they mostly have jet black screw caps or pink screw caps (last iteration, marketed to women I believe before being discontinued). I believe the Italian model is quite different with a thinner bottle, gold screw cap and a whitish label with black lettering.

As for scent, at first I could not distinguish the two but there are subtle differences I picked up on over time. I preferred the U.S. version. Still, they are very close IMHO and the Italian version is very worthy.

As for the old Atkinson's Royal Briar - look for it only in storybooks anymore or the ultra-rare appearance on ebay. Carroll's offers a version of it now but it isn't nearly the same thing, a very different sort of affair to my nose. I suspect something in the original was banned and contributed to it's discontinuance.

That's the stuff. If you can find one like that with a gold colored cap all the better (it's really vintage and smells very crisp). The U.S. stuff used to be offered regularly for under $30.00 in that quantity.

If you can get a bottle for a reasonable price (under $50.00) snag it. But otherwise, like many excellent things of Western Civilisation, it's gone with the wind.

The Italian stuff is good, very good, and I don't think you'll be disappointed, it's just slightly different to my nose.